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Champion Update Q&A: Taric, the Shield of Valoran [COMPLETE]

RiotA Small Man·4/13/2016, 7:01:00 PM·36 votes·134,463 views

Hey everyone!

We've gathered a bunch of Rioters from the Taric team for some Q&A about the Shield of Valoran himself! Whether you're interested in Taric's gameplay, story, or art, ask away and we'll be happy to answer!

On hand for questions today we have:

David "RiotRepertoir" Capurro - Designer

George "Glorft" Krstic - Writer

Paul "Partiest Cat" Jarvis - Animator

Kory "Ququroon" Dearborne - QA

Ryan "Reav3" Mireles - Production

Janelle "RiotStellari" Jimenez - Promotion

Jake "LoveCommander" Pearce - Promotion

Chris "Pwyff" Tom - Cool Guy

Check out these links if you need to get up to speed:

The Ascent - Why do you climb?

Champion Update: Taric, the Shield of Valoran - Check out Taric's update reveal.

PBE Gameplay Livestream - Designer Repertoir demos Taric's PBE gameplay.

Champion Bio: Taric - The best weapons are beautiful.

Champion Insights: Taric - The story behind Taric's update.

Champion Dev Podcast - Inside Taric's dev with the designers.

732 Comments

Akiba4/13/2016, 7:29:54 PM44 votes

Would you ever consider a Debonair Taric skin? I think it would suit him well.

Dobyk4/13/2016, 7:10:38 PM25 votes

I have a question that might be considered mature for the audience, but I'm curious nevertheless. The question of Taric's sexuality has often been seen through the prism of jokes and memes and for better or worse has never been addressed. Thus, many players, especially those among us who are gay, have projected different values onto Taric and the gay players among us were able to bond with him. Simultaneously, most players are still quite homophobic and the idea that Taric might not be entirely straight seems scary to them. Although not central to his concept per se, "sexuality" is something inherently related to love, and from what I've read so far and heard from the podcast, Taric appreciates all eathrly aspects of life and puts special emphasis on love and beauty.

Personally, I think you have guys have left him quite ambiguous on that front and open to interpretation and personal projection. Still, I had to ask.... xD The lack of any compliments for male champions (no, not Ezreal) in his voiceover kind of left me confused.

So, does Taric appreciate only the beauty of women (Ashe, Diana), and the love between a man and a woman, or???? Is he straight, gay or..... multi-faceted? I'm dying to know xD

Edit: Btw, I'm not rooting for a solid confirmation, I like the ambiguity, but I am quite curious what Riot actually thinks, given how many gay people (and there are gay people people playing LoL) have connected with the non-hetero "memes".

Mr Tim4/13/2016, 7:07:40 PM22 votes

Can you please describe Taric's daily health/beauty routine? How does he maintain that chest? What does he eat for breakfast? What hair products does he use?

Clambi4/13/2016, 7:04:02 PM16 votes

Does Taric like Ezreal?

Solidair34/13/2016, 7:02:27 PM15 votes

Hey guys, I’m a HUGE fan of Taric, he was the first support champion I ever bought with IP way back in S2, and I love what you guys have done with him! He looks better than I could have hoped, and I’m happy to see him finally getting the love he deserves! I have a few questions for you guys (a little bit for each of you):

In the Taric dev podcast, you guys mentioned that each Aspect has a little more Targon or a little more humanity in them in a unique way from and Aspect to Aspect basis. I know you guys said you threw out the chart/graph/whatever, but can you tell us where the other Aspects stand in regards to this system. Pantheon is obviously 99-100% War Aspect with little to no human, but where do Diana and Leona stand?
Going along with this, would it be accurate to say that The Protector see’s Aurelion Sol’s slavery to the star crown as unjust? Or is that more Taric’s thing, and he and the Protector don’t have to agree on every minute detail? His quote to Aurelion Sol is that “No star should be bound.” Taric even sounds a bit reverent when he says it. (Also, Yuri Lowenthal did such a good job!)
In the update, you’ve switched Taric’s hammer to a mace. What was the reasoning behind this? Was it because you wanted to leave everything Old Taric behind, or was it more to do with his “new” battle cleric theme, and clerics being more associated with maces?’
Before Taric became the Aspect of the Protector, did he have any magical potential? And how strong was he? Garen is obviously very strong but doesn’t exactly have magic, it seems. Obviously becoming an Aspect powers you up, I’m just curious where he stood among humans before his ascension to aspecthood.
I can’t imagine this new ultimate, Cosmic Radiance, was the first one you came up with when developing his new kit. Can you tell us about some other things you concepted before settling on this one?
Taric’s comic, Ascent, is my favorite piece of out-of-the-game content I’ve seen in a very long time. I’m currently using the final image of Ascent as my desktop, it’s so beautiful! What was the process for writing this piece, and how did you decide on the art style? (also, the “guy” near the top, was that a (fake) Noxian or a (fake) Freljordian?) And not a question, but I really liked the part where it looks like he was going to slap the guy, but instead he gave him his cape! And the line “I know, but I promise I’ll never stop trying” actually made my heart race! So good!
Can you tell us about some VO lines that didn’t quite make the cut but you liked? I was surprised you didn’t go for an allied Ezreal taunt! (Love him in the armor of the fifth age splash, though!)
Did any of your exploration into this rework get affected by the threads IronStylus made way back when talk of a Taric rework even happening started? Some of the suggestions in those threads seem to have been taken to heart, but I guess it’s possible you went that way on your own.
Was Emerald Taric always going to go the foresty/nature route or did you have any other ideas?

That’s probably enough pestering you, thanks again for the rework! And sorry about the lengthy post!

sadness very big4/13/2016, 7:33:29 PM12 votes

If someone wanted to stamp out all life on Runeterra, Teemo for example, would Taric hunt him down?

ForgottenLuck4/13/2016, 7:01:57 PM12 votes

I have a couple question’s: How deep are Garen’s and Taric friend ship?

I like to speculate that Garen banished Taric for him to be free of Demacian duty and justice and also saving his friend from a greater punishment am I thinking in the right direction?

Taric is a guardian of beauty and love, does he know of Garen’s and Kat’s feeling to each other?

And if so what are his thoughts on it or what would they be if he found out about them?

Thank you very much and I await your answer

D Reus4/13/2016, 8:02:28 PM11 votes

Mirror mirror on the wall, who's the truest of them all?

FlakJackit4/13/2016, 7:04:47 PM11 votes

If he looks like this, is it safe to assume that "The Protector" has even MORE outrageous hair?

Serith Vastyne4/13/2016, 7:27:23 PM11 votes

From a lore standpoint, will Taric be the one to help ease the current warfare/tenions between Leona and Diana and the Solari and Lunari to fight off the Void? It already looks like that Diana and Taric are already on the same page in terms of objectives.

AtroposWraith4/13/2016, 7:14:17 PM10 votes

Hi there, I've always tried to catch these Q&A's but was always too late. I'm glad I caught this one.

But the question I have is: How does Taric see some of the Demacian champions now? For example, what's his opinion on Jarvan, Shyvana, or Xin Zhao, to name a few.

Ichabod Kong4/13/2016, 7:04:24 PM9 votes

OH! What made you guys decide for the new Armor of the Fifth Age model?

Also, What would Taric's child hood have been like?

Edit: I've been a Taric main for two years, and I am really excited about this update, and the Q&A :D

Jon11744/13/2016, 7:48:41 PM8 votes

How Does Taric Feel About Non-Life such as Karthus and Viktor?

krlpdd354/13/2016, 7:33:09 PM7 votes

ok i don't see how no one i saw in here asked this: does new taric have new favorite food? if yes what?

The Sad Moon Boi4/13/2016, 7:48:49 PM7 votes

Taric is my current main support (lv 5 mastery Taric's united!!!) and I have a couple of questions regarding the new Taric.

I really liked his total damage output of the old Taric, it is what made him unique, and I really enjoyed it. Of course he was really really easely kited out and struggled against AP comps. My question here is, because two of his damage abilities (W/R) got removed, won't his damage get down? It's one of the main things I liked about Taric, and I'd hate to see him struggle because he's lacking damage.
I do like his Q/E changes (skillshot in favor for AoE stun, me likes), but I feel his W and R are lackluster. His W is basically a Kalista link that can be recast, so no reason to max it (shield is rather weak from what I've tried out on PBE). And his ult I feel is completely out of line with the rest of his kit. I really dislike it. Ignoring that I personally dislike immunity ults, but the 2.5 sec cast time is just forcing the assassin meta again. Basically if Taric is dominating, hello assassin meta again. I would prefer his old damage stereoid ult back. Would there be a possibility that his ult grants some small AD/AP boost before the immunity strikes? That would be nice.
Is he gay? Can anyone confirm that? :3 :3 :3
Debonair Taric any time soon? :C
Also we need a full gem Taric skin for real, like he is 100% gems. Would instabuy it.
I like his new theme, about beautiful stuff. What would Jhin think about his idea of beauty?
If Taric would be some other champion's senpai, whose would it be? :# :3 :#
Did you ever consider making an ult for Taric that would charm a couple of enemies into coming close to him? That would be so thematically cool and fun.
What was the craziest ability you had in mind for Taric? Thematically and mechanically?

EDIT 10) I am thankful that you kept his old joke. Any way you can make it so we can bind that to be the only joke cycling so we can spam it again? It's one of the main things i enjoyed about Taric. :P

AND OH GOD HOW MUCH I LOVE THE TARIC ZHONYA QUOTE (YOU KNOW WHICH ONE I MEAN)

Thanks for the answers, sorry for the long post. Some info may not be 100% accurate but I don't even care I like Taric a lot :C

firesfrost4/13/2016, 7:11:19 PM7 votes

When can we expect Taric to drop onto Live servers?

That said, do you think we can see more splash arts done like Armor of the Fifth Age? I really love the little easter eggs and involvement of other champion skins in these splash arts and they come out very well done. props to the artists.

DatSas4/13/2016, 7:03:37 PM5 votes

Quick question about his Emerald skin: Will the price be the same as before or will it be changed when its available?

Drunk Tsundere4/13/2016, 7:53:41 PM4 votes

@Partiestcat

I love the animation for his joke, and the way his crystals are positioned. It's a subtle but nice touch. If I understand correctly, this is your work, isn't it? I am curious about the process by which you do this. Are all of his animations thought of and done by you, made out of solely your own creative mind? Or does Repertoir maybe describe something that he wants to see in game, and then you bring it to life?